Wayne Carey unloads after bombshell AFL Appeals Board ruling

Wayne Carey has taken aim at the AFL in the wake of two bombshell rulings that sparked a mountain of criticism on Thursday.

Wayne Carey torches the AFL

Wayne Carey has blasted the AFL after the league’s Appeals Board overturned three-game suspensions handed out to Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford on Thursday night.

The Lions and Giants stars were both slapped with the bans by the match review officer before the AFL Tribunal upheld the decisions.

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On Thursday night however both suspensions were thrown out in bombshell rulings that sparked a mountain of criticism.

The Appeals Board found that the AFL had argued “unreasonable conduct” but had not made a finding on whether the conduct was “likely to cause injury”.

The decision to wipe away the suspensions handed down by the MRO was celebrated by fans with Carey blasting the league for wasting everyone’s time.

“Maybe the AFL was watching last night … should fine themselves for wasting time and money,” Carey wrote on X.

Carey is not happy with the AFL. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Bedford and Cameron were banned and then cleared. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The decision to wipe away the three-game bans over the tackles has however triggered even more confusion around the league.

North Melbourne great David King called on the AFL to publicly clarify a “black and white version” of what is and isn’t a legal tackle.

“Really we are none the wiser as to what is legal and what isn’t Thursday night going into another round of football at the cutthroat time of the season,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“We will have more controversy this weekend because we have no idea, we really don’t.

“We’re talking about (both players) getting off because of the laws of the game and the wording of some of these rules.

“I think the AFL need to come out tomorrow morning prior to the round and say where it sits and give us a black and white version of what’s acceptable and what’s not.

Bedford is free to play. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Cameron was cleared after a long fight. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“If the exact same tackle happens this weekend, is it a three-week penalty if they get the legalities right, or is that player off?

“I want to hear from Laura Kane or Andrew Dillion, whoever’s in charge of this area, let us know. Because people are jumping up and down about ‘we’ve lost our game’.”

Lions coach Chris Fagan admitted the Thursday night ruling had further muddied the waters surrounding how players should go about tackling.

“You can see by the reaction over the last 48-72 hours that there is a lot of confusion within playing ranks and within coaching ranks,” Fagan said.

“Coaches we don’t know how to coach necessarily the tackling now and players not being sure if they do something and it ends up in a concussion that they’re then going to be in trouble.”

North coach Alastair Clarkson said: “I think it’ll correct itself. There’s usually about 120 tackles a game and we cry foul when one is an accidental concussion.”

Bedford and the Giants will take on the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday while Cameron and the Lions will go up against the Swans on Sunday.

Originally published as Wayne Carey unloads after bombshell AFL Appeals Board ruling